Interview: Aidan Horn

Aside from the fact that this kid could barspin like a motherfucker, we didn't know much about Aidan. I thought it would be interesting to go ahead and ask him a couple questions to see what he's up to. Hit the read more link to find out more about doing shows under rain, his love for truckdrivers to fakie, and a look at his life laced with exclusive pictures!

Above photo by Johnny Haynes

Name: Aidan Horn
D.O.B: 01/03/1993
Hometown: Dundee, Scotland
Current Location: Whitley Bay, England
Years Riding: 6
Sponsors: Beddo, Infected Components, Infest Clothing, Angry Elephant Sport, HitchUK.

Q: How about starting with the basics? Where are you born and in what kind of atmosphere did you grow up?
A: I was born in Dundee, Scotland but quickly moved to England and just grew up here my whole life. My childhood was pretty sick, where I live is super quiet and not much really goes on, so it was pretty normal like the next persons I guess.

Q: When were you first exposed to bike riding, and did you get hooked immediately?
A: I was about 14 I think, something like that? I seen some guys riding some jumps pretty close to my house which I didn't even know about, but these guys were jumping their bikes and in my eyes it was so crazy and I thought to myself, I need this in my life kinda thing, so I did, I stayed clear of the big jumps for a long time, just the 1ft kickers to flat did it for me on a super lame bike, but it really wasn't long before I was there every day after school and on the weekends just being that kid who sends it to flat.

Q: When you first started riding bikes, who were your biggest influences?
A: It took a while before influences came into it, but when they did it was the likes of all those crazy brakeless Russian guys and straight up, Matt Macduff. I was like, this guy in these crazy pants is sick! Because it was so different from the stereotype of what a Mountainbike is and it just appealed to me, and I just wanted to ride like that!

Q: During your time in Germany, you probably noticed that their MTB scene is huge! How would you describe it and what do you think about it?
A: It's beyond that! Having spent the last 6 months there it was strange at first, turning up to a skatepark filled with MTB riders, much more than BMX. It's super good to see everyone getting along though, no hate. But when i'm at home it's just me and a friend who ride MTB at my local skatepark, it's all BMX, don't get me wrong, that's still cool with me, but at home i'd love to see more people ride MTB.



Q: Most people might remember you for that Instagram video where you do 4 barspins in one air at your local park. How did you end up convincing yourself that you could throw the bars around 4 times in one single air without dying?
A: I'll be totally honest, I'd just learnt triple barspin airs a few months prior and I was still so scared to do them, so I told myself I had to do 5 triple barspins in a row, no hesitation, it took a while but I did it. Then one of my friends told me to try 4, I thought no way, but I tried, I just put an extra crank in, I done the 3 barspins and when I landed, I got that feeling, I said to myself, you can do that! So I was literally like fuck it, let's do it! I got myself in the zone, done my little ritual kinda thing when I'm scared, and just done a few set-up airs then went for it, it took me about 8 goes i'd say of doing 3 barspins, I sat down knowing that the next go was going to be it, I got some guys to video it, knowing that nobody had done it before on MTB if I wasn't mistaken, I dropped in and after a few set-up airs I just sent it, and I did it, but I remember that I caught the 3rd barspin close to the stem and struggled to push the 4th, but it seemed to work out! I haven't actually done another since but I'm confident enough to say I will do it again.

Q: From the videos you release, I would guess you’re a big fan of Park riding. Is that what you ride all the time or do you also ride some street and dirt?
A: Yeah that's right! It is mainly park, I do ride street too, but not as much as I used to. But with spending time in Germany, I got the chance to ride dirt a lot. To me, it's like an undiscovered thing to ride some good dirt jumps, but after an hour I was all about it! It's so much fun, but since I left I haven't rode any dirt, but I'm willing to travel a distance for it, but I think I'll have to wait until summer because of the good old English weather.

Q: How does your day-to-day routine looks like?
A: I do shows for 6 months of a year, that being my job so I'm not home too much. But my routine at home consists of waking up at 10am, convincing my Dad to make me a sick breakfast, calling a few guys to see if anyone is riding or anything. Get ready and go ride my local skatepark or somewhere kind of local until it got dark, then sometimes we'd go travel up to an hour to go ride a super good indoor place and always have a real good sesh, or ride somewhere indoors which is local and just have a mess around, it totally depends, but it usually looks like that! I like it that way, it's similar but always different, different sessions on different things.

Q: Do you take action in any other activities beside biking?
A: I love playing Basketball, but I never really do it now, i'm now home for a month, so i'll probably have lots of spare time, other than that, when I do shows, I always end up going swimming like twice a week, I love swimming, it can be chill or like super fun with crazy slides and shit! I'm all about it.


Backflip to fakie - Photo by Ryan Lilburn

Q: What influences you to get out and ride your bike everyday?
A: So much stuff, like I love riding my bike and I do literally every day regardless but you get some days of pure motivation and days of wanting to just chill. Prior to riding I always watch web videos, both MTB and BMX, it gets me so pumped to ride and learn new things. When I'm actually riding though, music does it for me, I could have the same song on repeat for hours if it got me in the right mood. Music and video parts definitely overcome my thorough hate for shitty weather.

Q: What is the trick that look you the longest time to learn?
A: Tailwhips, like straight up! I just could not figure it out. I'd try and learn it everyday and try like twice and be like, it's cool, i'll do it tomorrow. I'll put it this way, I learnt triple barspins about a week before I learnt tailwhips. It took me a long time to where I could just pull one without having to think about it! But they're all the rage these days.

Q: When going for a new trick, how do you manage to overcome fear? Do you have any particular mental process or are you the typical “fuck it, Iet’s do it” type of rider?
A: I just think like, if I go for it 100% first try then I'll either do it or get close enough to where i'll be safe! But yeah, i'm pretty lame for the whole mental game too! Anytime there's a trick I'm scared of or a new trick, I always tap my helmet 4 times with both hands at the same time. It just make me feel aware I guess. But it's just how it is.

Q: When traveling around Germany, did you ever got comfronted about what happened during World War 2 just because you are German?
A: Not particularly, I was just warned to be careful with what I say, if I was to say anything about it! Over in the East side of Germany you still see Nazi's and stuff like that, so I was always staying well away if I seen any, especially since it's not the 1940's anymore.


Footjam - Photo by Ryan Lilburn

Q: What’s your best bike-related memory so far?
A: Winning a best trick contest I think? I think about it like every day, literally. It was the Wicked Woods Xmas jam 2013 and I landed a 360 quad barspin over a spine. I can't even begin to tell you how stoked I was from landing it, I wasn't bothered about trying to win! It was just the whole day I knew what was coming and I knew what trick I was going to do, it was scary but worth it when the place roared as I rode away, sounds pretty stereotypical haha. That memory will stay with me a long time.

Q: What’s the craziest situation that biking ever put your in?
A: Tough one, I was in Germany at the time but I think when I was asked to do a show in England but it was so last minute! I flew in the night before the show and I knew the crowd was going to be the biggest i'd ever rode in front of! I remember that I walked round the corner and seen 10,000+ people just sitting in the stadium and I had to ride in front of them. What made it even worse is that it was raining so hard, the stadium didn't have a roof but the show went on and my name was said and whilst looking at this insanely large crowd of people who were all just staring at me and about to ride in practically a storm, i thought to myself "dude, what the fuck are you doing here". In the end everything went to plan, but I was so nervous that I can't even explain how I felt! It was an amazing experience but it was sure crazy as hell!



Q: Tell us something about you that might surprise us.
A: I cannot even begin to express my hate for doing a Truckdriver to fakie on a quarter, it's the one trick i refuse to do, i don't like the feeling of it one bit! I can do them it's just something about them that I dislike, Marius Hoppensack knows first hand about this!

Q: What is your opinion on the way the internet influences biking these days? Do you feel like it’s an opening for creativity or that it creates stereotypes in which younger kids believe they need to fit?
A: I'm not so sure if the internet causes this but I feel as if MTB is heavily divided between the whole FMB world tour scene and the rest. I feel as if the type of riding I do and I like is so underground. Don't get me wrong, the FMB is something I'd love to attend, but I think mine and many others' preferred type of riding should be in the spotlight as much as the rest. Some people may not agree, but every type of BMX is in the spotlight as much as the next as far as i'm concerned, so it should be the same for MTB!

Q: What are your plans for this year? Any trips or projects planned?
A: Well I have shows from April-September but after that I plan to go straight to California and stay out there for about 6 weeks, so hopefully that works out! Germany too for Dirtmasters, I've never rode a dirt contest before so we'll see how I end up haha.


Flair - Photo by Johnny Haynes

Q: How can people stay in touch with you to see what you’re up to?
A: Just through Facebook, you can see videos etc that I'm featured in and new photos etc. I'd say Instagram though, I'm always somewhere doing something - @aidanhorn

Q: An interview with a German rider wouldn’t be complete without a question about Beer, so what are your top-3 favorite German beers?
A: I'm sorry to say but L'm Straight Edge, Beer just isn't my scene anymore. It's just how it is you know, but none the less I'm not so boring and I still party regardless.

Q: Any shoutouts or people to thank?
A: First, Marius Hoppensack at Beddo for being the best dude ever and constantly hooking me up and being so supportive and pushing me further and further with my riding. Paul from Infected Components for all the sick parts. Basti from Infest clothing for keeping my wardrobe up to date, Hassan from Angry Elephant for sorting me new hats 24/7, Scott from HitchUK for being a super cool guy! My parents too, they give me all the support i could ever need and always have me covered no matter what, i'm super fortunate to have all these people in my life! Also, thanks to Anthony Anderson and Ian Batey for giving me the chance to do shows all the time, it's a blast! Finally The Rise for putting together this sick ass interview for me, thanks a lot everyone! Peace!

Make sure to give another watch to Aidan's latest video where he shreds an indoor park with his friends:


Interview by Michel Plonka